


a series of unfortunate events

by neotaru



Series: A3! rare pairs week 2020 [5]
Category: A3! (Video Game)
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Canon Compliant, M/M, Pre-Canon, also referring to itaru’s mankai birthday card, itaru and tonooka are both in senka high school in this fic, itaru’s sister makes an appearance, major kniroun spoiler, not grammar checked, small caps
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-17
Updated: 2020-07-17
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:28:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25336147
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/neotaru/pseuds/neotaru
Summary: itaru should’ve known back then—that meeting tonooka was like the calm before the storm.just like how a series of unfortunate events led him to befriend tonooka, a series of unfortunate events also led him to fuck things up.[celebrating #a3rarepairs2020 hosted by @a3_69min on twitter!day 5: domesticity/goodbyes - tonooka/itaru]
Relationships: Chigasaki Itaru/Tonooka Takumi
Series: A3! rare pairs week 2020 [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1829899
Kudos: 11
Collections: A3! Rare Pairs Week 2020





	a series of unfortunate events

for long itaru can remember, his life as a student was a hellish one.

he never considered himself to be handsome or pretty, but it’s true that he’s a bit paler and skinnier than the boys around his age. he couldn’t do sports, so the boys in his class teased him. it started in kindergarten and continued to middle school. graduating middle school, his sister sat him down in one nice evening and gave him a tip to survive high school.

_(“do i have to?”_

_his sister was scary, just like any other older sisters to their younger brother. she folded her arms in front of her chest, her eyes burning and itaru could feel the judgement behind his sister’s pink eyes. “itaru, you’re picked on because of your appearance. you might as well use it as your weapon.”_

_“yeah, but, do i really need to? i’m fine—“_

_“rubbish!” his sister stepped forward and stopped in front of itaru. “i’m tired of seeing you being so down and pathetic all the time. as your sister, i’m really irked by the fact that you let yourself to be picked on just because of your appear—“_

_“i’m not!”_

_“then you’ve gotta use them as your weapon.” she walked into his desk and pulled a piece of paper and a pen, then sat down on the chair. “high school is all about playing a role and using your appearance to its maximum potential. you’re weak and you can’t do sports, but you have a nice face. you’re going to play,” her face twisted into concentration as her fingers scribbled down in the paper, “a sickly beautiful boy.”_

_“what?! why would i— you know what, maybe i don’t need to do that. i’ll just do whatever i did back then in middle school instead of playing this role!”_

_“no, you’re not. itaru, you’ll do this and not backing down to your bullies. i’m going to make you survive high school, like it or not.”)_

itaru didn’t like playing a role that is completely opposite of his condition in real life. in school, he would sigh dramatically, look out of the window melancholically, and go to the library every time it’s recess or PE time. it was hard, but the reward was fine—people treated him nicely, though he couldn’t say he liked it. however, compared to the time where he had to hold his own breath to survive, this was far easier, far more doable. itaru just had to pretend.

* * *

enter tonooka, one day. a classmate of his whom itaru didn’t like at all. he was rowdy, a normie—someone whom itaru would like to avoid forever. of course, hopes are only empty words. a series of unfortunate events led itaru to drop his ‘sir knight round table’ keychain, tonooka picking it up, and now they’re sort of friends. or maybe real friends, because itaru could talk about all things to tonooka.

_(“i’ve got a confession,” itaru said one day during recess time. the library was a great place to hide and play his console game peacefully. “i actually have no chronic illness. those are all fakes.”_

_tonooka looked surprised for a second before breaking into a laughter. “dude, that was all acting?! god, you act so perfectly— chiga, you could be an actor one day!”_

_itaru made a face. “i can’t imagine myself in front of so many people, so scrap that foul imagination off your head and help me clear this stage.”)_

real friends also go to each other’s houses, right? itaru likes his house, it’s nice enough for a hideout, but tonooka had some games that he didn’t have, so itaru assumed it wasn’t a waste to visit tonooka’s house.

_(“chiga?”_

_“what? can’t talk now, this last boss is too bothersome—“_

_itaru let out a gasp when he felt a finger brushed his bangs. it was too long and sometimes got in the way when he was gaming—he might need to cut it with his sister’s permission later; however, the shock made him pressed the wrong button and his hero got killed. shit._

_“what the—“_

_“you look cute when you concentrate on those games, chiga,”_

_that comment caught him off-guard. itaru definitely didn’t expect that, at all._

_“umm... thank you? anyways, if you’re done with the flattery, help me clear this one,”_

_maybe itaru wasn’t used to people complimenting his looks, so the comment kind of bothering him. it was as if his sense became overwhelmed. even the chuckle tonooka let out made his heart skip a beat.)_

itaru doesn’t know whether real friends confess their feelings towards each other, hold hands and exchange small pecks and kisses sneakily, but they did that.

* * *

itaru should’ve known back then—that meeting tonooka was like the calm before the storm. just like how a series of unfortunate events led him to befriend tonooka, a series of unfortunate events also led him to fuck things up. the fuck-up only needed a topic of one game being brought up. itaru accidentally brought tonooka into the conversation—he thought tonooka would join them, but of course he had to forget that they were playing a pretence of a normie and a sickly boy.

tonooka’s face before he left the classroom was the one thing that made itaru realise that he fucked things up quite bad. (and he did fuck things up the next day.)

( _“hey, hey, you know chigasaki from class 3-B? he’s actually a big nerd, you know?”_

_“eh, that can’t be~ he looked too frail to even lift up his fingers though?”_

_“well, apparently, he was lying about being critically ill to skip out gym classes to play games~”_

_“god, what a loser nerd!”_ )

itaru doesn’t like to suspect others. he doesn’t like the uneasy feeling of suspecting others—in this case, tonooka. one thing, though, what he had hoped times ago—to avoid tonooka—is granted now.

there’s always a silver lining in every cloud, huh? but the words still hurt.

( _“oi! chiga! wait up!”_

_itaru, despite the uneasy feeling, stopped as tonooka raced to his side. his face is twisted in a funny-looking guilt itaru felt he had to laugh, but it wasn’t the right moment._

_“...what?”_

_tonooka went quiet, even though itaru could hear the gear in his brain working hard. what is he going to say, now? apology? mockery? itaru expected all of it now._

_“—you can leak my hobbies to them, too.”_

_those words were not the one itaru expected, but tonooka has always had the ability to say the unexpected things. maybe it was also his way to apologise. tonooka asked him to do the same, but that wouldn’t undo the damage, right?_

_“...i won’t do something so bothersome. i don’t care about it anymore. do whatever you want.”_

_was he angry? he had the every right to be angry; he just doesn’t want to and he sees nothing good in them._

_“wait, chiga!”_

_“goodbye.”)_

and that was the last time itaru even bothered with tonooka. whatever happened between them, itaru doesn’t care anymore.

**Author's Note:**

> in process of writing this, i re-read the kniroun event story and itaru’s mankai birthday’s backstage story. all i gotta say is let itaru happy. god, i hope itaru is happy with harugumi now.
> 
> also, i wasn’t sure exactly when the Accident™ happened, but going by how in-game itaru said that was the last time he talked to tonooka, it probably happened in itaru’s 3rd year of high school, hence why i wrote his class as 3-b. that’s a headcanon for you :)
> 
> talk with me on  
> [twitter](https://twitter.com/%5Bsttscgsk%5D)


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